Internationally acclaimed violinist Pamela Frank headlines the opening concert of the College’s 39th International Festival of Chamber Music at Memorial Chapel Saturday, Oct. 9 at 8 p.m.
Joining her are fellow string instrumentalists Andrew Simionescu, Beth Guterman, Dimitri Murrath, Edward Arron and Peter Wiley in a program that includes one of Schoenberg’s most renowned works, “Verklarte Nacht,” and a selection by Brahms.
Frank began violin lessons at 5, ultimately earning her bachelor’s degree from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia in 1989. Ten years later, she won the coveted Avery Fisher Prize. She serves on the faculty of the Curtis Institute and the Peabody Conservatory and also plays as a soloist or with such major orchestras as the Baltimore, San Francisco and Vienna symphonies, and the New York and Berlin philharmonics.
Simionescu, Frank’s husband, is also a celebrated violinist, performing with symphonies around the world and at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the White House and Kennedy Center. A winner of the 1984 Concert Artists Guild International, he is a member of the Raphael Trio and has played at more than 300 concerts with the Bowdoin Trio.
Guterman, a violist, is a graduate of the Julliard School who earned her artist diploma at the New England Conservatory. A member of the International Sejong Soloists, she has toured the U.S. and Asia. She is a winner of the Julliard Viola Competition, the inaugural Apsen Nakamichi Lower Strings Competition and the 1999 Eugene Lehner Chamber Music Award for Excellence from the New England Conservatory.
Violist and artist diploma recipient Dimitri Murrath has performed as a soloist at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall, the Kennedy Center, London’s Royal Festival Hall and the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels. He has won honors at top international competitions.
Described as one of New York’s most exciting young cellists, Arron has appeared as a soloist with orchestras and as a chamber musician in the U.S., Europe and Asia. The Julliard graduate has performed frequently at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and the 92nd Street Y. He is artistic coordinator for the Metropolitan Museum Artists in Concert.
Arron’s former teacher and fellow cellist, Peter Wiley, has enjoyed a lifetime of significant accomplishments. Attending the Curtis Institute at age 13, he became the Cincinnati Symphony’s principal cellist at 20. A former member of the Grammy-nominated Beaux Arts Trio and Guarmeri String Quartet, Wiley teaches at the Bard Conservatory and the Curtis Institute.
Concert tickets are free to the Union College community. For tickets and information, call 388-6080 or visit http://www.union.edu/ConcertSeries.